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Impact Craters Unit Plan Impact Craters Unit Plan Part 4 More Lessons from the Sky Satellite Educators Association http://SatEd.org Please see the Acknowledgements section for historical contributions to the development of this lesson plan. This form of “Impact Craters Unit Plan – Part 4” was published in February 2013 in “More Lessons from the Sky,” a regular feature of the SEA Newsletter, and archived in the SEA Lesson Plan Library. Both the Newsletter and the Library are freely available on-line from the Satellite Educators Association (SEA) at this address: http://SatEd.org. Content, Internet links, and support material available from the online Resources page revised and updated September 2019. SEA Lesson Plan Library Improvement Program Did you use this lesson plan with students? If so, please share your experience to help us improve the lesson plan for future use. Just click the Feedback link at http://SatEd.org/library/about.htm and complete the short form on-line. Thank you. Teaching Notes Impact Craters Part 4 (of 4) Invitation Two boys, aged 9 and 13, stood in one’s front yard after riding bikes during the summer of 1991 when they heard a low-pitched whistle getting louder. Then they saw a rock zoom past them and land on the ground about 4 meters away making a hole about 5 centimeters deep. They looked around but could find no evidence that anyone had thrown the rock. When they picked up the rock it felt warm. What was it? Where did it come from? Why was it warm? How fast was it going to make such a hole in the ground? How did it form? How did it get there? Were the boys in danger? So many questions and no answers yet. What should happen next? What questions do you have about the event? How might these questions be investigated? Grade Level: 5-8 Time Requirement: 6-8 class periods (all four parts) Prerequisites: Impact Craters – Parts 1-3 Relevant Disciplines: Science, Mathematics, Geography Student Learning Outcomes (unit of four lessons) By the end of this unit, students should be able to do the following: • Work in cooperative research teams of 3 to 4 • Generate questions for scientific investigation • Plan and conduct a scientific investigation of a selected question • Collect, analyze, and interpret data about impact craters • Create an individual learning log or journal containing collected information, drawings of objects or landscapes studied, selected research questions, data gathered, analysis of all data, interpretations, and explanations, inferences, predictions about large impact craters on earth and the likelihood of another big impact • Design and present to the class a team report based on the team members’ individual learning logs Lesson Description This lesson is the fourth in a unit plan called “Impact Craters.” It addresses grades 5-8 standards in Physical Science, Earth Science, mathematics, geography, scientific inquiry, language arts (writing and oral communication), and teamwork. Overall, six to eight sequential class periods are suggested although the series can be adapted by the teacher to fit the individual curriculum calendar. In this unit plan, learners are guided to inquire about impact craters visible in satellite images of the Earth. What each part includes Each part of the lesson plan series for the unit includes Teaching Notes and Student Activity files. The Teaching Notes are generally the same for each part but vary with More Lessons from the Sky, © Satellite Educators Association, Inc. Impact Craters-4 1 Teaching Notes particulars for the lessons described in that part. The Student Activity pages contain material for students for the lessons described in each part. A complete summary of all four parts can be found in the Teaching Notes for Part 1. Part 4 “Crater Hunters” (Lesson 7 from Exploring Meteorite Mysteries), consists of two activities. In Activity A: “Where Are the Craters on Earth?” learners inspect images of craters on the Moon, Mars, Venus, and Meteor Crater in Arizona then map the locations of selected impact craters on Earth. A world map of impact sites is produced using ArcGIS Online, a free on-line geographic information system program from ESRI, or by hand-plotting the map on paper. Next, learners write a description of three impact Craters on Earth based on the collected data for each including the modeling data from the previous lesson. Then they view satellite-based images of the actual craters they just described and write new descriptions based on the new visual information. Activity B, “Crater Hunters,” involves each team planning an expedition to suspected impact crater site to discover additional information to help decide if the selected area really is an impact site. Teams present their expedition proposals to the class. The Teaching Notes include a lesson plan for each activity. The Student Activity pages include duplication masters for the impact crater data table, a world map, student procedure sheets, and response worksheets. Further guidelines for the team research and presentations, and class closure are found in Part 1 and Part 4. Impact Craters Unit - Suggested Eight-Day Schedule Start Length Part Description On Day Introduction - presented by teacher 1 day 1 1 1 day Impact Craters Learning Center – student-centered. The learning center Day or 2 should be available throughout the entire unit for learners to visit individually 2-7 more and no more than 3 at a time. Modeling Impact Craters – student team-centered. Lesson 6 “Impact Craters” Day 1-2 3 from Exploring Meteorite Mysteries. Allow two days. If learners finish in less time, 2-5 days they can visit the learning center. Must precede Crater Hunters. Crater Hunters – student team-centered. Lesson 7 “Crater Hunters” from Day 1-2 Exploring Meteorite Mysteries. Two activities: mapping and expedition planning. 4 3-6 days Allow two days. If learners finish in less time, they can visit the learning center. Must follow Modeling Impact Craters. Independent research – student team-centered. Learners further explore their Day 1-2 1-4 selected question for investigation by completing 1 or 2 more of the lessons from 5-6 days Exploring Meteorite Mysteries. Preparation & Rehearsal for Team Presentation – Each team considers how Day 1 day 1 it will present their investigated questions and conclusions. They prepare their 7 report and rehearse. Team Presentations & Class Closure – After each team delivers its report to Day 1 day 1 the class, the teacher guides the class to complete the final column of the class 8 KWL chart – what did we Learn? Important Terms Impact crater Longitude Latitude Weathering Erosion Deposition Volcanism Tectonic Terrain Geophysical Tektites Vaporize 2 Impact Craters-4 More Lessons from the Sky, © Satellite Educators Association, Inc. Teaching Notes Assessment Suggestions (unit of four lessons) • Teamwork and participation in groups • Progress toward development of content, study habits, thinking skills • Adequate completion of at least three lessons in the unit between the Introduction and team report to the class • Quality, accuracy, completeness of activities from the learning center • Quality, accuracy, completeness of the individual learning log or journal • Quality, accuracy, completeness of the team’s presentation to the class Next Generation Science Standards Addressed (unit of four lessons) The Next Generation Science Standards sets below are relevant to this unit. Each set includes a disciplinary core idea (DCI), science and engineering practice (SEP), crosscutting concept (CC), tied together by a performance expectation (PE). Grade 5: Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions – Types of Interactions PE- 5-PS2-1 – Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down. DCI- 5-PS2.A – The gravitational force of Earth acting on an object near Earth's surface pulls that object toward the planet's center. SEP- Support an argument with evidence, data, or a model. CC- Cause and effect relationships are routinely6 identified and used to explain change. Grades 6-8: Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions – Types of Interactions PE- MS-PS2-1 – Apply Newton's Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects. DCI- MS-PS2.A – For any pair of interacting objects, the force exerted by the first object on the second object is equal in strength to the force that the second object exerts on the first, but in the opposite direction. SEP- Apply scientific ideas or principles to design an object, tool, process, or system. CC- Models can be used to represent systems and their interactions—such as inputs, processes, and outputs—and energy and matter flows within systems. Grades 6-8: Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions – Types of Interactions PE- MS-PS2-4 – Construct and present arguments using evidence to support the claim that gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting objects. DCI- MS-PS2.B – Gravitational forces are always attractive. There is a gravitational force between any two masses, but it is very small except when one or both of the objects have large masses. SEP- Construct and present oral and written arguments supported by empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support or refute an explanation or a model for a phenomenon or a solution to a problem. CC- Models can be used to represent systems and their interactions—such as inputs, processes, and outputs—and energy and matter flows within systems. Grades 6-8: Energy – Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer PE- MS-PS3-5 – Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that More Lessons from the Sky, © Satellite Educators Association, Inc. Impact Craters-4 3 Teaching Notes when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object. DCI- MS-PS3.B – When kinetic energy of an object changes, there is inevitably some other change in energy at the same time.
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